#odyssey

A sigh

She squints fiercely, and goes to look.

The wall looks smooth there...

But she can check! Feeling the edge, there is a SNICK and a catch pops open, showing a secret panel!

"How did.. wow. Nice catch"

Within are things that gleam of glamour. A small collection of dross, but more than that - Charts! Sea charts, but not of the ocean surface - underwater pathways, trods, currents. Written in chimerical ink, for fae eyes only. A small box, just like an old fashioned matchbox - inside that is a ring, a cheaper metal that was once perhaps plated with gold or silver but has mostly worn off, with a claddagh symbol on it.

"Oh, furkin' eyyyyyy...."

"Oh wow... you know that Lady Captain Siv would drool over this"

She squints at the ring, kenning it.

A low whistle. "We're gonna want to hold onto these. Fetch a buttload of dubloons."

"That's a phrase I never thought I'd hear 'buttload of Dubloons'"

Art leans over to look at them, and looks a bit puzzled. "They're not useful, though, unless you have a submarine."

"DO we have enough supplies to turn this old boat into a submersible?" He looks like he would just about believe it!

"Those are trods, and there's mer and selkies too."

"So - something valuable to trade, yeah?"

"Oh. Ooooohhhhhh."

She looks for Montserrat, or anything that might be "Redfin"

He has picked up the packet that Citrine fetched, and- "Hey, this wasn't here." He offers it over to her.

At first glance, no... then again, the notes are in Gaelic.

"What wasn't?"

"Huh?"

Art shows her - tucked under the ribbon on his inexpertly wrapped present - There is a quickly scrawled note - in fact, it's on the back of one of the rainbow napkins that Bluebell picked up for the party.

"Huh."

It reads... Call if you have phones. Use the hundred for emergencies but be careful. We will try to tattle tale you later. We are worried but we are proud of each of you. With a picture of a wolf with a snowflake overlaid... and a $100 bill tucked behind it.

"Oh, hey."

She shows the note to Art and Gladiola.

"That's the Baroness handwriting. She can do it on a napkin better than I could if I sat down for an hour" A pleased look "We got good lieges"

He smiles. "Do you think your mom was behind this, Gwen?"

"Oh!" He nods as Gwen points that out, because the posts crossed.

"Sorry, I think I got saltwater in my brain."

"Can I see the charts?" He wipes his hands on his slacks just to be sure they are not going to smudge them.

"Sure."

He looks them over, thoughtfully. The fingers of his free hand twiddle, tapping on his thigh, as he reads over the text.

"I think it's Welsh or Irish..."

"FArrrrrrr too many consonants in those words."

"Welsh has fewer vowels... but see, the accent marks?" He points them out like a clue!

"They slant to the right!"

"Sure?"

He grins. "SCOTTISH Gaelic writing, they slant to the left."

".....right."

He looks a little puzzled for a moment, then shrugs, and keeps looking them over.

"You guys know some weird stuff" A smile "But cool"

"I didn't know I knew that."

"You didn't? Huh.. maybe the closer you get to saining the more the dreaming is letting you knwo about what you'll know?" SHe's not sure that's how it works

"I know I don't speak Irish OR Scottish, and certainly not Welsh... I mean, I don't THINK I do?" But he points to a word on the page, "But here, the "sc"? That would be "sg" in Scottish, but there is no phonetic difference... along with the grave vs, the acute accent marks.. you know, to differentiate between the open and closed vowel sounds?" He realizes he may have lost them.

"Okay, could be you're of a British Island House" Yes, Gwen thinks on these things

"......that and a telephone could call home?"

"I checked mine... it's a cheap one, and not water proof. I think it might be dead - there's no rice here. How are yours?"

He is too distracted by the foreign notes to catch the joke!

"Oh my phone" She reaches for it, and checks to see if the water destroyed it

"Mmph." She does check her phone.